SNJO Porgy and Bess / Sketches of Spain

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The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra is delighted to present Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain in concerts that pay homage to legendary musicians Miles Davis and Gil Evans and celebrate their extraordinary contributions to jazz.

Orchestral jazz came of age in 1959 when Miles Davis released his sumptuous interpretation of music from Gershwin’s ‘Porgy and Bess’. It remains a high point of Davis’ work with Gil Evans, whose lush arrangements of tracks including 'Summertime' and It Ain't Necessarily So' so authentically evoked the balmy atmosphere of South Carolina.

The following year, Davis and Evans drew freely from both traditional Spanish music and vivid re-imaginations of Joaquín Rodrigo’s famous ‘Concerto de Aranjuez’, creating their remarkable Sketches of Spain full of stunning orchestral colour and striking musical images.

Miles Davis and Gil Evans journeyed through these majestic musical narratives and gifted them to jazz as vibrant, sultry and enormously satisfying pieces of modern music. Joining the SNJO are guest trumpet soloists Laura Jurd and Tom MacNiven and together, they will explore one of the most compelling landscapes in orchestral jazz.